Sunday, November 1, 2015

Cheesy Biscuits with Vegetarian Gravy

Please welcome Maddie Day (who is also known as Edith Maxwell, who has been our guest here before) as she introduces a new series, the Country Store Mysteries. Her recipe makes me hungry just reading it!

What a treat to be back on this delicious blog again! It’s also a treat because I am – I mean, Maddie Day is – launching a new series, the Country Store Mysteries. Robbie Jordan, a chef and carpenter, renovates an old country store in scenic hilly southern Indiana. In the store she opens a breakfast and lunch restaurant called Pans ‘N Pancakes, and she keeps all the vintage cookware that came with the store. Flipped for Murder begins on grand reopening day, and she doesn’t plan to have murder on the menu. But small-town secrets and bitter rivalries put sand in the batter when the mayor’s disagreeable assistant is found dead with one of Robbie’s signature cheesy biscuits in her mouth later that evening.

Biscuits and gravy are a staple in southern Indiana – think Kentucky more than the northern Midwest. Robbie’s new romantic interest, the green-eyed Jim, however, is a vegetarian. She develops a miso-based gravy for him and others of like mind, although she sure doesn’t mind a sausage or a piece of bacon on her own plate.

Make a well in the middle and add the eggs and milk, mixing with a fork in the well.

Add the cheese and stir all with a fork until liquid and cheese are just blended with the flour. Do not over mix.

Sprinkle some flour on a flat surface and on the dough. Scrape the dough out of the bowl onto the surface, rubbing flour around the inside of the bowl until clean.
Lightly knead the dough until it comes together.

Flour a rolling pin. Roll the dough to a half-inch thickness. Fold in thirds. Roll, fold, and repeat several times.

Cut with a 2-inch biscuit cutter or drinking glass and position on a baking sheet. You don’t need more than half an inch in between.

Bake for about ten minutes or until risen and golden brown on top. Then deep fry if you want to get really authentic (Robbie doesn’t).

In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-low heat and whisk in the flour. Add the miso, nutritional yeast, tamari, and pepper. Add half a cup of broth and whisk in, then gradually add the rest.

Stir the cornstarch into half a cup of the gravy and then whisk in. Allow to cook until thickened, stirring frequently.

Serve over biscuits, or on mashed potatoes for your vegetarian Thanksgiving guests.

Agatha-nominated and national best-selling author Edith Maxwell writes the Local Foods Mysteries and the Quaker Midwife Mysteries, the Country Store Mysteries (as Maddie Day), and the Lauren Rousseau Mysteries (as Tace Baker), as well as award-winning short crime fiction. Maxwell lives north of Boston with her beau and three cats, and blogs with the other Wicked Cozy Authors. You can also find her at www.edithmaxwell.com, @edithmaxwell, and on Facebook.

Edith will be holding a drawing for a copy of Flipped For Murder. If you'd like to be included, just leave a message here (with your email address!).

You’ll flip for this mouth-watering new series. In FLIPPED FOR MURDER, Maddie Day serves up a tasty mystery with a side of scenic country charm. Chef Robbie Jordan is smart, quick-witted, and determined to make her Pans ’n Pancakes café a success. Stir in secrets from the past, a dollop of blackmail, a cast of credible suspects, and a cat named Birdy for a delicious read. The rolling hills of southern Indiana never looked so inviting—or so dangerous. – Leslie Budewitz, two-time Agatha Award winning author of the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries

I'll have to try your biscuit recipe. I've always had trouble with whole wheat biscuits being very heavy so I always have to try new recipes. Thanks for your giveaway---I'd love to start this series at the beginning.suefarrell.farrell@gmail.com

I am so EXCITED to see a vegetarian option in the gravy!!! You made my weekend with this wonderful recipe. I have Beene siting for your series and now the recipe just adds to myJoy. Book lover, Bree breannaherron@icloud.com

I love biscuits and gravy and these sound YUMMY! The book sounds so good! I can't wait to read it!. My husband is from Southern Indiana (Sunman/Batesville)! Thanks for the chance to win!MarshaMysteryreader@yahoo.com

This sounds amazing! The book, I mean, and the recipe also. I haven't made biscuits, but my jubby does. He might like this recipe. Congrats on new release, looking forward to seeing your Quaker Midwife series, too! jeaniedannheim ( at ) ymail ( dot ) com